Hi Gems...

Singing is such a delightful, energizing and life-changing gift! But sometimes the process of continually seeking to up-level your singing skills to enhance your sound gets frustrating! In this blog, I'll reveal how you can boost your enthusiasm and reduce frustration while learning to enhance your singing skills & manage the Love-hate relationship you have with the famous"learning curve."

During my 18 years as a coach, I've observed, students are most likely to get highly stressed, discouraged or demotivated during their developmental stages because of unrealistic expectations which leads them to consider giving up!

I'm here to encourage you to maintain the fun, joy, and momentum while working on mastering your singing skills!

There comes the point where you've gained quite a bit of knowledge, you understand the what, why, how and when of singing and you’re excited to implement and execute all the good stuff you've learned.

But, It's between the point of knowledge gained and skill development you can become frustrated with your growth rate and the feeling of discouragement creeps in. Uhhmm...

Now, because you know what to do, naturally you'd want to transfer your knowledge to your singing, it's only human to desire this, but you have to guard your emotions so that you won't become demotivated when that doesn't occur.

I want to warn you, knowing a lot, doesn't automatically translate into being able to implement and execute flawlessly. It doesn't work like that. I know you wish it would, but it doesn't.

Actually, the knowledge component is just the beginning part of the singing process. It's a vital component, but it's not all that's required for achieving vocal success.

Always keep in mind, success has a strategy. In addition to the knowledge component of learning to sing there is also your muscle strength that needs to be developed and controlled. And this process my precious Gem takes some time, and you have to adjust your mindset to embrace this part of your singing journey!

There are three (3) main components that you must focus on to master vocal skill.

Step one is Knowledge:Knowing and understanding; WHAT is required to achieve vocal ease and beauty, WHY you need to apply specific techniques, WHEN to execute a particular technique or vocal attack and HOW to implement techniques to attain vocal comfort, presence, and beauty!

Step two. Muscle Strength and control. Focusing on strengthening, conditioning and controlling the muscles that support the breathing process and the muscles that control your vocal folds during sound creation. Also stretching the muscles of your body to release any tightness or tension.

Step Three. Technical Skill. Pulling it all together with a song with agility, flexibility, stamina, endurance, presence, balance, ease and beauty!

In theory, everything makes sense, but it becomes quite frustrating when during the application stage the voice organ doesn't cooperate as fast as you wish!

I want to admonish you, this is not a reason to quit, this is actually quite natural. This experience and feeling are not unique to you, many singers have this experience.

Learning and growing is a process, if you look a little closer, you'll observe that you gather information then you practice, practice and practice some more until to improve in any area you choose to develop.

So don’t become frustrated and allow your emotions to kill your enthusiasm and slow down your momentum. Be fair to your organ, and carefully allow your voice time to get stronger, gain control and develop muscle memory!

I too have struggled with the love-hate relationship with my learning curves. I dislike having to go through the point of merging the learning and execution stages of the curve; however, I love, love, love the beautiful results gained at the end.

So, work on each segment and be realistic about the time between when you gained the information and when you will be able to execute it flawlessly.

Keep in mind the execution speed is different for each singer, its based on several variables such as; 1. Mindset 2. Singers Diet & health3. Singing experience4. Clarity of information5. Vocal range and cord elasticity6. Having strategic rehearsals and amount of time spent rehearsing. 7. Routine; develop productive habits, consistency, and momentum8. Support tools, and guidance (coach or mentor)9. Discipline and determination to success 10. Focus.

So now that you know, you're not alone and the feeling of frustration is normal, adjust your mood and increase your focus. Manage your mindset and consistently work through each stage, until you’ve built the strength and coordination skill to perform your songs with ease and beauty.

In short, allow your voice organ the needed time to master the skill.I hope you feel better, even if you don't, at least you know better. Move forward with wisdom and let it guide your actions.